Nipah Virus Confronted by Second-Generation mRNA Vaccine Candidate

Since August 2023, the Indian state of Kerala has been experiencing its fourth Nipah virus outbreak.

Over the past two decades, the Nipah virus has spilled into humans in Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore.

While no approved Nipah virus vaccines exist, several candidates are conducting clinical trials.

“The Nipah virus outbreak is a reminder of the increased risk of zoonotic diseases as the world population expands and encroaches into wild habitats. We have the technology to rapidly develop next-generation mRNA vaccines that will effectively fight against these new viruses”, commented Pascal Brandys, co-founder and CEO of Phylex BioSciences, in a press release on September 22, 2023.

“Our mRNA vaccine encoding for a highly immunogenic nanoparticle provides a flexible platform for rapid development of a new Nipah virus vaccine and will be of great value in combatting Nipah virus and other similar viruses.”

Phylex BioSciences published last year the proof-of-principle of its second-generation nanoparticle mRNA vaccine. The same technology is directly applicable to the development of a Nipah virus vaccine.

The second generation mRNA vaccine candidate encodes for a nanoparticle displaying 60 copies of the antigen-based upon the head domain of the G protein of the Nipah virus.

The anticipated advantages of the nanoparticle vaccine are superior immune response, long-term protection from cell-mediated immunity, and protection against virus dissemination in the brain.

Globally, an estimated two billion people worldwide are at risk for bat-borne Nipah virus outbreaks. The Nipah virus has a fatality rate exceeding 40%.